One person in the trendy Toronto condo towers known as Liberty Village has had enough. But her attempt to name and shame the offenders quickly landed her in hot water. As a result, she’s asked to remain anonymous. I’ll call her JR.

Last week JR, 46, spied a female resident letting her dog do its business in our community courtyard without even a pretense to stoop and scoop. So JR whipped out her digital camera. Then she posted the photo to our condo’s Facebook page.

“To the dog owners … destroying the courtyard/property at [our condo]: I sat on my patio for 1.5 hours after work today and took about 18 pictures of people ignoring the no pooping/peeing (simple terms), [and the] no off leash sign. After clarifying the rules/policies with management, I have the go ahead to post the pics. I will put together a collage of the baddies. It costs a lot of money to replace the sod/plants/trees in the courtyard.”

Anyone who lives in one of Toronto’s bazillion or so condominiums knows that crappy neighbours can make life unbearable. From leaving garbage in the hallways to letting Fido do his business wherever, there is no shortage of inconsiderate douchebags in Toronto’s towers. Sure, there are rules and there are fines for breaking them. But what are the chances a security guard is going to happen by in the few seconds it takes a dog to drop a load and the owner to stroll away?

But not all residents are applauding JR’s vigilante picture-taking.

“This is completely and utterly insane,” wrote one neighbour. “Who are you to police your neighbours?”

Hmmm, sounds like someone doesn’t want to be caught letting a dog squat in the yard.

“I am worried about my safety”

Another wrote: “While I fully agree with the sentiment & good intentions here… I think this is extreme. I find it nearly as unpleasant as the poop… to have a neighbour threatening to spy on and police fellow neighbours, take and post photos of those you deem to be offenders… for god’s sake. That makes you just as unpleasant to live with in my opinion.”

But, seriously folks, in an age when everyone has a camera on their phone, when every move we make can be captured on the world wide web, can you really expect a media blackout when you break the rules? Besides, how is this any different from being caught on, say, a red light or security camera?

Like me, JR has lived in our building since 2009. She’s grown tired of the poop, the garbage and the neighbours who are responsible for it. She told me what finally pushed her to take the photos.

“(I watched as a) female resident walked her dog directly to the grassy part of the courtyard, unleashed her dog, the dog pooped. She sat down on the edge of the courtyard… smoked a cigarette, butted the cigarette on the grass, got up, called her dog and walked back into the building, not picking up the poop,” JR told me in an email.

It’s important to note that the patch of grass JR is defending is by no means the only area for Liberty Village dogs to do their business. In fact, a bona-fide park is just a few paces away, making it utterly unnecessary for a pooch to poop in this particular off-limits area.

But, as of today, JR hasn’t posted the photos of the doggy-do offenders onto the community’s Facebook page. She reports receiving threatening messages and isn’t sure if she’ll continue to snap pics from her balcony.

“I am worried about my safety,” she tells me. “Some of the residents … are rowdy and more than capable of mounting harassment campaign against me.”

How sad that someone trying to enforce the rules has to fear a backlash. JR does, however, plan to share the original images with the property manager in the hope that fines can be laid.

“Why are we paying for security/cameras when no violators are warned/fined?” She wrote.

As I see it, rules only have teeth when they’re enforced. So, if JR’s photos result in even one crappy dog owner (pun intended) being slapped with a fine, I say, job well done.

Rachel is a writer, condo dweller, urbanite and an unabashed lover of all things Toronto - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Her first novel for young adults, The Lewton Experiment, is available now ... read morefrom Tradewind Books.
Follow her shenanigans on Twitter @Rachel_Sa or drop her a line at: rachel @rachelsa.comView author's profile